Peruvian bishop says Church will always reject abortion

The president of the Peruvian bishops' conference says the Church will always defend life and reject abortion even if this stance conflicts with society.

In remarks to CNA on Feb. 6, Archbishop Salvador Pineiro Garcia Calderon stressed the importance of “proclaiming life from its beginning to its end” and said that fidelity, fertility and the education of children in love seem like concepts from the past.

He said the Church would always resist abortion in all its forms, including abortion for alleged health reasons, “no matter how much they to try to justify it by saying the baby is sick or deformed.”

Local groups as well as some government officials have been stepping up efforts over recent months to pressure the country to legalize what's being called “therapeutic” abortion.

“I know I am going against the flow and it would easier for me to teach the contrary, but I would only receive cheap applause in return and I would not be a follower of Jesus,” the archbishop said.

“To snuff out life is the saddest of sins. It harms the soul because it means taking the life of an innocent being.”

Archbishop Calderon also commented on the problem of terrorism that Peru experienced for many years, which he called “a social curse permeated with hatred and injustice.”

The Peruvian government recently rejected a request by the Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights to form a political party. The organization is led by Manuel Fajardo, who is the lawyer for the leader of the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso (The Luminous Way).

Archbishop Garcia Calderon urged all Peruvians to work for peace and reconciliation and to “proclaim hope with loving hearts that are at the service of others.”

He also announced that he would travel to Leon to participate in the Pope’s visit to Mexico in March, as a representative of the bishops of Peru.

“I have the joy of bring him the greetings of the Church in Peru, the affection and filial obedience in this first encounter as president of the Peruvian bishops in order to ask his blessing for all the sons and daughters of Peru, who love the Pope so much and want to receive his message,” he said.